Are you following Jesus? #6

As we have been talking about following Jesus we have used the word disciple many times. What is a disciple? The definition of a disciple is this from the dictionary:



disciple: a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower:



To define it even further for a follower of Christ, it is to live with faithful adherence to HIS teachings. So the question we must ask ourselves is.....am I a disciple? Am I learning, listening and doing what Jesus Christ "The Word" has said? Remember this from the book of James:



James 1:22

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.



Many are deceiving themselves into thinking they are disciples but are not because they are not doers of the word but just observers if even that! So many have no idea what the bible says because they do not read it! How can you be a doer if you do not know what it says????



To be a disciple as we have see already will be costly in your life. Jesus told us to be a disciple or follower it is a narrow gate to enter:



Matthew 7:13-14

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.



What gate did you go through? The narrow or the wide? Look at your life and it don't take long to figure it out. You can see clearly by who you are following Jesus or the world.



So are you disciple? It is a most important question. For if you are then you are to be following this teaching:



Matthew 28:19

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,



One last comment as you see above....a disciple makes disciples. That is how the message of Jesus has continued on these 2000 years and it is the only way it will continue to carry on. Someone cared enough to tell you, do you care enough to tell others?



Tom

Are you following Jesus? #5

As we closed yesterday we seen that God chooses us. He wants all of us to follow Jesus. So here is the question for today....Why does God choose us? For a purpose! Look at these two verses and see if you can find the purposes:

Matthew 4:19

19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.Did you find it?

In the Matthew verse we are told we will be made fishers of men. Which means we will share the gospel with others if we are followers of Jesus. Then in the John verse we are told if we are in Jesus we will bear much fruit! Bearing fruit means a number of things for the follower of Jesus, one being winning souls for Jesus while also living out the fruits of the spirit in our lives which are found here:

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

So you see God has a purpose for all of us because of two things:

First is this, out of His great love for man:

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God does not anyone to go to hell but to come and join Him in heaven through the shed blood of His Son whom He provided for a sacrifice for our sin! That is unmatchable love!

Second is this, God deserves glory:

Revelation 4:11
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,    to receive glory and honor and power,for you created all things,    and by your will they existed and were created.”

When we are being fisher of men and bearing fruit for our Lord we are bringing Him glory and honor! This is our main purpose to worship God and have fellowship with Him. Because we love Him and follow Him we bear fruit and try to bring others to Him and folks their is no greater purpose on this earth. Jesus is the answer!

Are you living out your purposes for God? I pray you are and if not no better time to start than today!

Tom

Are you following Jesus? #4

Speaking for myself, I see from the bible there i much more to being a follower of Jesus then spitting out a few words about I believe in Jesus. I want us to think a little more this morning about our love for Jesus. These verses have always made me do some thinking:

Matthew 10:34-39

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Everybody loves their mom right? The bible makes it clear we should. So what in the world is Jesus saying here? First, He is saying that when we follow Him it can be costly. We may have to leave mom and dad behind if they stand in our way of our Lord Jesus.

Second, I love my children and would die for them but Jesus says here our love for Him is to be so much that in comparison with our children our love for them is like hate! WOW! When we get right down to it though our kids did not die for our sin, our kids do not love us like Jesus does, our kids did not create us, our kids did not leave heaven for us, Jesus is worthy of unmatchable love!

Third, When we realize our life is in Jesus we lose our life as we know it. We no longer live for self. So when we offer our life to Jesus we actually have found the life God intended for us! Following Jesus is true life!

Here is another amazing fact....you did not choose God-He chose you:

John 15:16

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

GOD chose you! He loves you! Again we see He chose you but He also has a purpose in choosing you...that you may bear fruit! What is that fruit? Well part of it is telling others the gospel and then discipling them. Are you doing that?

This following Jesus is serious business, I pray you already knew that and I pray you are busy about the Father's business!

Tom

Are you following Jesus? #3

Today lets look at the word follow as it relates to following Jesus.



When we put the word follow in its proper context in relation to our King this is the proper definition- to live with radical abandonment for His(Jesus) glory. the first thing we must do to follow Jesus is repent:



Matthew 3:2

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”



Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”



So what does repent mean? It means to confess we are sinners to God, to be sorrowful of our sin, to turn from our sin and head toward Jesus and away from our sin, and to renounce self! We are no longer belong to ourselves bur are willing slaves to Christ!



1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.



When we follow Jesus, we see from the disciples following Jesus and also from the mouth of Jesus it costs us some things. Here are some things that we may be called to leave behind:



*comfort



Matthew 8:19-21

19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”This sound like comfort to you?



*careers



Luke 5:27

Jesus Calls Levi(also known as Matthew)

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”



All the disciples left their jobs at least for a time. Are you willing to if God leads you to?





*possessions



Matthew 19:21-23

21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.



Are you willing to give everything away and follow Jesus? He may call you to do so...this young man could not do it!





*positions



John 19:39

39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.



Nicodemus was a big wig in the Jewish circle, obviously he did not care about his position as he went and helped prepare the body of Jesus for burial!



Are you worried about your position at your job or in society or are your going to follow Jesus no matter what?





*families



Matthew 10:34-37

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.



Do you love Jesus more than your own family? Are you willing to give them up for Jesus if that's what it takes?





*safety



Matthew 10:16-20



Persecution Will Come



16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.



If you haven't received at least verbal persecution chances are you are not doing much for Christ and physical persecution may be part of our following....are you willing?



*Your life



Matthew 10:26-28



Have No Fear



26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.



Following Jesus may cost your your life, it did for most of the original disciples, are you willing?



Hmmm are you willing? If your are to be a true disciple these are all on the table! Like I told you from the beginning, to follow Jesus is not easy and He never said it would be! Easy believism is not biblical!



Chew on this today....I know I am!



Tom

Are you following Jesus? #2

Jesus made the first call to follow Him here:



Matthew 4:18-22



Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.



Now let us think about who he called for a moment. Fisherman. Average men. Nothing in their background makes them of any exceeding value for Jesus to call them. They weren't high on the totem pole of society in this day. They were not even educated well. So what does this tell us? Jesus can use anybody for His purposes, that includes me and you!



Let's look at part of the calling Jesus said to these men today. "Follow Me". Let's look at the Me part first as it is the most important. The Me is Jesus. Name above all names:



Philippians 2:8-11



8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.



Obviously this not just anybody. This is Jesus, who would die for all mankind. God gave Him the name above any name! Everyone should bow and one day will and also confess who Jesus is....Lord!



Me is also Savior:



Luke 2:11

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.The One and only One who can save us from our sin and the wrath of God.



Me is also Messiah:



John 1:41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). Messiah means the promised and expected deliverer of the Jewish people. Thankfully Jesus delivered not only the Jews but also the gentiles which are you and me!



Me was fully human:



John 1:14

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.



The Word is Jesus and he dwelt among man here on the earth.



Me was also fully God:



John 10:30

30 I and the Father are one.”



Obviously if Jesus and the Father are One then His is God! That's why we also call Jesus Immanuel which means God with us!



Matthew 1:23

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).



Me is also King and Lord:



1 Timothy 6:14-15

14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,



Me is also Righteous Judge:



2 Timothy 4:8

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.



Me is also filled with the Spirit and pleasing to the Father:



Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”



Me is also the new Adam which means He is the perfect man:



1 Corinthians 15:45

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.



Me is also the great light:



Matthew 4:16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”



There are more descriptions I could give of this ME(Jesus) but what we have seen from the bible is sufficient to get the point of this.....Isn't Jesus worth more than:



*casual church attendance????

*casual association like he is just an old friend????



When Jesus calls us to follow HIM, He is worth:



*TOTAL abandonment

*Supreme adoration

*Everything in our life will change as we give our life to HIM! Think about it!!



So how much is ME(Jesus) worth to you? Think of the description given of Jesus and who He is, then decide what is He worth?



A casual ho-hum relationship or a give it everything you got relationship?



Sadly many who call themselves Christians choose the ho-hum casual and this is very dangerous and we seen yesterday because Jesus will say depart from ME....I never knew you!



Monday we will look at what the word "follow" means.



Tom

Are you following Jesus? #1

Yesterday we talked about failing the test of being a follower of Jesus. If we do so it will be an eternity in hell but we can pass the test and know it! That's what we are going to jump into today. Over the next several days we will look deep into what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Warning: It will make you do some serious thinking and hopefully if changes need to be made you will do that too!



I have recently read a book called "Follow Me" by David Platt and some of the thoughts come from the book which come from the bible. So if you want a good book to dig much deeper on this subject go get yourself a copy.



The first question we need to ask ourselves is can I be deceived as in thinking I am a follower of Jesus but in reality I am not? Well think about these stats:



*4 out of 5 people in America claim to Christians. We know this is not true because of the morals of this country



*50% of Americans claim to be born again, well that don't even jive with the other statistic that I just gave. Plus is their any other kind of Christian than born again? Not according to Jesus:



John 3:1-7



You Must Be Born Again!

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’



* Many of these 50% believe good works will get them to heaven. Not according to the bible:



Ephesians 2:8-10



8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.



Our works do not save us, faith in Jesus Christ saves us and as a result we do good works for His glory!



*Another portion of that 50% believe Jesus sinner while on the earth. If anyone who calls themselves a Christian believes that, they believe a different gospel which automatically disqualifies them from being a follower of Jesus for the bible says:



2 Corinthians 5:21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.



Hebrews 9:14

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?



Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.



If Jesus sinned then He could not be our lamb of sacrifice for it had to be perfect!



There are many more things that could disqualify one from being a follower of Jesus such as:



*not believing in the virgin birth



Matthew 1:23



“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).



*not believing Jesus died on cross for your sins



1 Peter 2:24



24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.



*not believing in the resurrection



John 11:25



Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,



*believing that there in more than one way to heaven



John 14:6



6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.



*believing that all you have to do is say a prayer and be baptized



Note: I believe faith alone by the grace of God saves you but the bible also teaches once you are saved works prove your faith. Fruit will fall from your trees!



James 2:26



26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.



These are essential to our being followers of Jesus. Non-negotiables!



Now here is where we end for today...a warning from Jesus to those who have been pretending to be followers but did not have a relationship with Jesus:





Matthew 7:22-24



22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.



Jesus says to these folks "I never knew you"!! They did works but did not listen to His words! No relationship to our Savior! Let us all heed this warning. Have you built your house on the rock?



We will dig deeper tomorrow of what following Jesus is! Much to chew on for today!



Tom

Failing the test!

Warning...do not be caught failing the test as the result will be an eternity in hell.



2 Corinthians 13:5



5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!



For some reason we get all bent out of shape when people judge us. For one thing nobody's opinion matters but God. Some may judge to try to hurt us but others may judge us in which they are trying to help us in our walk with God. For that we should happy! Our problem is we tend to think who is anybody to look at my faults when they have faults of their own. While that may be true we need to look at it in a different light, as God using them to help us get closer to Him. Ever thought about that?



One thing is clear as we are told in this verse we are to examine ourselves. The key question is are we in the faith? There is no greater question then that. Get your bible out, see what God says about being of the faith. See if Jesus Christ is in you.



There is more to it then simply saying I believe in Jesus. For even the demons believe in Jesus! Over the next few days we are going to dig into this more deeply. Test yourself and see where you are in your faith, some things may need to change! It could be a matter of where you spend eternity!



Tom